Episode 312 Recap: "My Friend Maggie"

After last season's nail-biting cliff-hanger, Maggie's fate is sealed when Jim's masked hit man shoots her multiple times before fleeing Veronica's house. Veronica feigns shock as the police officer she called opens fire on Maggie's killer. The officer manages to shoot him dead, and Veronica secretly revels in the death of her rival.

"Oh, my friend Maggie! My friend Maggie!" she cries out while concealing a devious smirk.

Later, when David drives up to Veronica's house and sees police officers in front with two bodies covered by sheets, he mistakenly believes Veronica has been murdered by Jim's hit man.

"My wife! My wife!" David wails in agony as he speeds away from the scene.

Candace and her partner in crime, Jeffery, need to think quickly if they want to avoid going to prison for murder. Candace is still stunned that Veronica somehow managed to find out about Quincy's murder, which Candace and Jeffery carried out. "I don't see how she would know about any of this," Candace says quizzically.

"She was a litigator. She was one of the best at what she did," Jeffery tells her, before listing the other positions his mom was also "one of the best" at, including prosecutor and defense attorney.

Jeffery understands, maybe better than anyone, how sharp and manipulative his own mother can be, because he grew up witnessing her shrewdness firsthand. "She puts things together, Candace. Everything has meaning. Everything has meaning to her," he says. "If there's a blade of grass that's leaning too much to the left, she wants to know why it's not leaning to the right," he says, adding that until she gets the right answers, she'll never stop.

Realizing that both he and Candace are in hot water now that his mother is onto them, Jeffery begins to freak out over this mess they're in. He loses control, and all of his fears and frustrations come spilling out in front of Candace.

Angry at himself for being kinder and more compassionate than his mother, Jeffery begins to regret that he didn't inherit more of her nasty traits. "I wish I could be that cunning, that conniving, and as wicked as her—and you!" he says. "Then I would be one step ahead of all of you, and I wouldn't be in this damn position!"

Candace tries to calm Jeffery down—after all, they still need to come up with a plan to stay out of jail.

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After Jeffery leaves, Candace receives a call from a banker explaining that her request for a loan has been approved and that the approval is being fast-tracked. With Warlock’s threat looming near, Candace desperately needs to procure the large sum to pay him off, and is reassured by the promise of the loan. She calls Warlock to tell him she'll have his money in time, but he demands to see her in person at Benny's tow yard.

Back at the jail, Jim is meeting with his lawyer—who we soon learn has been impersonating the banker on Jim's behalf. Jim is orchestrating an elaborate scheme from jail to get back at Candace, having ensured the foreclosure on all of her properties.

"Take it, Lloyd, you take it all," Jim says sneeringly, "The tow yard, both houses—every damn thing she's got—you take it."

At the tow yard, Mitch's late-night tryst is interrupted when Warlock and Candace show up for their rendezvous. Mitch and his lover remain hidden as they watch the exchange from the back of his truck.

Candace tells Warlock she'll have his money in two days, but Warlock is enraged when she can't pay him right then. She explains that she's getting a loan from the bank, but he doesn't trust her, or believe that they would give her the money so quickly. War reminds Candace of the lengths he's gone to for her in the past—mentioning holding a federal judge in his basement for days as a case in point—while he's felt repeatedly betrayed by her.

"I'm trying to redeem myself," Candace says.

"How? How are you going do that? You lied!" War hisses back at her.

War reminds Candace of what's at stake: He doesn't want to hurt Benny, his lifelong friend, but he will kill Benny if she doesn't produce the money in two days. Mitch overhears all of this, and then watches in horror as War sexually assaults Candace.

Jeffery was drowning his sorrows in an alcoholic beverage when a woman he had never met before came on to him. After he refused her advances, the stranger belligerently threw her drink in Jeffery's face. Jeffery was understandably angry, and the tipsy woman's friends led her away—but not before giving him a piece of their minds and calling him rude.

Before she could make her exit, however, the offending woman overhears that Jeffery's last name is Harrington and soon realizes that she is the judge who will be presiding over his mother's case. As such, she isn't allowed to have any communication with him in order to retain the integrity of the criminal case.

Just then, Officer Justin enters the bar and it's revealed that he's married to the judge who just hit on Jeffery moments ago!

For the first time, Jeffery decides to play the game the way his mother and Candace do, and to manipulate Officer Justin for his own benefit. He tells the cop to meet him in his hotel room, and Justin follows through, though he's not sure why he has complied.

In the hotel room, the officer lashes out at Jeffery—and not for the first time—demanding to know why Jeffery asked him to meet. He even threatens to make Jeffery "disappear" in a violent outburst. "It's just you and me in here," Jeffery reminds him. "Who is all this machismo for?" asks Jeffery. "I just want to talk and drink."

After assuring Justin that he has no interest in his wife, the judge, Jeffery lays into Justin, telling the aggressive police officer what he really thinks of him. "I think you're a creep who hides behind a badge. I think you are disgusting. You wear cheap aftershave and you need to learn how to manscape," Jeffery tells him matter-of-factly.

Then, Jeffery gets to the heart of the matter: "But here we are, Officer Justin," he says, knowing full well that the abusive cop is attracted to him. "I think we can help each other out."

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It's a race against time when David hears that Veronica has been released from jail and is probably heading to her home, where a hit man awaits her arrival. David speeds to get to his estranged wife's home before Veronica does, but when he finally gets there, he's met with a crime and rescue scene. All he can see is a covered, lifeless body on a gurney being hoisted into an ambulance.

Grief-stricken, David speeds off, his blood turning cold. He drives straight to the county jail and speaks with the officer manning the desk, asking to be allowed into Jim Cryer's cell. David knows it was Jim's diabolical plan to have Veronica assassinated, and David told Jim that if anything ever happened to his wife, David would kill him with his bare hands.

The officer, however, refuses to let David see Jim. "The DA's office just told me you had your time with Jim Cryer," he informs David.

Prepared for this exact situation, David covertly shows the guard a stack of bills as a bribe. "I need one more visit," he tells the guard, who's now listening very carefully. "I need you to open the gate, open the cell, turn your back. Don't let anyone else in," David instructs him.

"Meet me around the back," the guard says. He does exactly as he was requested, opening the gate to the holding area and then opening the door to Jim Cryer's cell. Without saying a word, he walks away.

"What the hell is going on?" Jim yells as David enters the cell. In a blind rage, David proceeds to pummel Jim to the ground, just as promised.

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